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PREFACE 




General John Sedgwick, 
was written several years 
ago for General Thomas W. Hyde, 
who was at that time proposing 
to write a more extended life of 
him, but who became too busy in 
actual work for his country to ac- 
complish it. General Hyde, whose 
death has occurred while this 
sketch is passing through the press, 
was one of my beloved brother's 



^ 



preface 

staff officers. My purpose was es- 
pecially to write of some of the 
more personal and less generally 
known incidents of my brother's 
life. 

As some of my friends have 
wished me to publish it, and es- 
pecially one, Mr. Carl Stoeckel, 
who has made it possible for me to 
preserve it in a printed form as a 
souvenir to my friends, I herewith 
dedicate it to him and to them, as 
a record of a noble life of a man 
who died for his country. 

Emily Sedgwick Welch 





f AJOR-GENERAL JOffi* 

Sedgwick was born 
in Cornwall, Connec- 
ticut, September 13, 
1813. He came of good stock, 
and had the rich inheritance of a 
noble ancestry. He was of the 
sixth generation from Major Rob- 
ert Sedgwick, who was the first 
progenitor of the family in this 
country. Robert Sedgwick emi- 
grated from the northern part of 
England in 1636, and settled in 



General 3M)n £et>gtoicfc 



Charlestown, Massachusetts, where 
he held various offices of trust, 
both civil and military, in the Col- 
ony. He represented the liberal 
Puritans, and was opposed to the 
prevailing intolerance of the times. 
In 1655 Cromwell appointed him 
to an important service in the 
West Indies, but he soon fell a 
victim to the climate, and died in 
Jamaica, May 24, 1656. His 
family, consisting of three sons, 
remained in this country. In the 
third generation from him was 
Benjamin Sedgwick, who removed 
to Cornwall Hollow about 1748, 
and purchased all that " little val- 
ley surrounded by natural walls," 
of which his descendants have al- 
ways owned a large part. He 
2 



% biographical £ted) 



died at the early age of forty-two, 
leaving six children. His eldest 
son was General John Sedgwick, 
who retained the place. The sec- 
ond son was the Honorable Theo- 
dore Sedgwick, who settled in 
Berkshire County, Massachusetts. 
Both he and his descendants were 
noted in the political and literary 
world. Miss Catherine Sedgwick, 
an author of considerable repute 
in her time, was his daughter. 
The eldest son, General John 
Sedgwick, was the grandfather of 
General John Sedgwick, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. He was an 
officer of some distinction in the 
Eevolutionary war. He was or- 
dered to join his regiment at 
Ticonderoga in 1775. The first 

3 



General Sloftn ^ebgtDkfc 



night after he left home, his house 
was hurried, the dastardly work, 
it was supposed, of incendiary 
Tories. He was called hack, and 
within a week a new frame was 
raised on the site of the old house, 
when he rejoined his regiment. 
This cowardly act so exasperated 
every loyal man in the vicinity 
that he worked " with a will," and 
the urgent necessities of the family 
were supplied until the house was 
ahle to shelter them; and then 
this was furnished hy their gener- 
osity, each man bringing his share 
for the purpose. 

General Sedgwick also "hut- 
ted " with General Washington at 
Valley Forge during the memor- 
able winter of 1777. 
4 



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It has been said of my brother 
that when, as a young boy, he was 
asked his name, he would reply, 
" General John Sedgwick," and 
this has often been told of him as an 
evidence of his early martial spirit; 
but I think it was because he con- 
sidered the title as a part of his 
name, always having heard his 
grandfather called "the General." 
His entering the army was the 
result of circumstances rather than 
from an inherited or natural fond- 
ness for the profession. He was 
never considered in the family as 
in any way remarkable. He was 
a robust, manly boy, who could al- 
ways be trusted — whose word was 
never questioned — of indomitable 
will and fiery temper — and one 
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Altera! 3fof)n ^ctigtoicfc 



who was specially beloved in the 
family. He was possessed of 
wonderful magnetic power, which 
always made him a leader among 
his young associates, carrying his 
points by love and fear. He was 
my special delight and admiration, 
as he was always my sworn knight 
and defender in all the combats in- 
cident to a family of children. I 
have heard my mother say that 
when I was born it was said to him, 
" Now, John, you have a sister," 
implying that my elder sister be- 
longed to an older brother, and 
that he never seemed to lose sight 
of the fact that I was specially in- 
trusted to his care. My earliest 
recollections of him are his draw- 
ing me to school upon a hand-sled, 

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% $iogra#)icai £&ctcf) 



and wheeling me around upon a 
wheel-barrow, and always tipping 
my sister over if she usurped my 
place. I also recollect how my 
hens' nests were always mysteri- 
ously filled with eggs, so that I 
might triumph over the same sis- 
ter. These things may seem trivial 
and even ridiculous, but I mention 
them to show how intimately we 
were drawn together in our ear- 
liest years. And the bond thus 
early formed was only strength- 
ened up to the fatal day of May 
9, 1864. 

Thus quietly and uneventfully 
passed his childhood. But as he 
grew into manhood, he became 
restless and his ambition led him 
to desire a different life from a 

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General Slofjn £cfcgtoich 



farmer's. His father, not being 
able to give him a classical educa- 
tion, which he desired, secured his 
appointment to the Military Acad- 
emy at West Point, mainly through 
the influence of the Honorable 
Jabez Huntington, who was United 
States Senator from Connecticut. 
His preparation to enter the Mili- 
tary Academy must have been 
limited, for, according to my recol- 
lection, he never attended any but 
our common district school, except- 
ing for a few months at a time an 
academy in a neighboring town, 
Sharon, Connecticut, until he was 
sixteen years of age. He then 
taught school for two successive 
winters, and his family thought 
that his schools were more noted 



3t ^Biographical £ftcttf) 



for his scholars having a good time 
than for any literary advancement. 
During the summer seasons he 
worked on the farm. After he 
received his appointment to West 
Point he attended school for some 
months preparatory to entering 
there. He must have heen poorly 
prepared, however, as the examin- 
ing hoard told him that it would 
be of no use for him to remain, as 
he could never pass the second 
examination, even if he did the 
first. But his indomitable will, 
strong intellect, and cool head did 
him good service then, as after- 
wards, and he was graduated in 
July, 1837, as Second Lieutenant 
of Artillery, twenty-fourth in a 
class of fifty. 



General 3(ofjn £c&gtoitfc 



He immediately went into ac- 
tive service, and from that time 
he was always at his post. He 
first went to Florida in the Semi- 
nole War, and in 1838 was with 
General Scott when the Cherokee 
Indians were removed across the 
Mississippi. From there he was 
ordered to the northern frontier 
during the Canadian rebellion. 
In 1846, at the beginning of the 
Mexican War, he was sent to 
Texas under General Taylor, and 
he afterwards served under Gen- 
eral Scott. He was at the capture 
of Vera Cruz, and engaged in all 
the battles in the valley. He was 
brevetted a Captain at Cherubusco 
and a Major at Chapultepec. He 
commanded his company and was 
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distinguished in the attack upon the 
San Cosmo gate at Mexico City. 
He was made a full Captain in 
December, 1848, and assigned to 
Duncan's Battery, Light Artillery. 
He commanded this battery until 
1855, when he was appointed 
Major in one of the new regiments 
of cavalry, and was ordered to 
Kansas. He remained there dur- 
ing the disturbance between the 
pro-slavery and free-soil parties 
until December, 1856, when he 
obtained a furlough and came to 
Cornwall, where he remained with 
us until after the death of our 
father, early in March. The tie 
between father and son was unu- 
sually strong, and it seemed to us a 
special mercy of God that he was 
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lateral Sofjn ^cbgtoicfc 



permitted to minister to his fa- 
ther's comfort during the last weary 
months of his life. It was only 
two or three days before his fa- 
ther's death that his leave of 
absence expired. He then imme- 
diately returned to his post at Fort 
Leavenworth. 

During the summer of 1857 he 
had command of a reconnoitering 
expedition, consisting of four com- 
panies, three hundred and twenty 
strong, with a train of fifty-six 
mule- wagons. He went up the 
Arkansas River, six hundred miles 
across to the South Fork of the 
Platte, to join Colonel Sumner. 
They marched over eighteen hun- 
dred miles, and suffered innumer- 
able hardships. They had one 
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quite severe engagement with the 
Indians. At one time they were 
obliged to live twenty days on 
fresh beef that had been driven 
over fifteen hundred miles, and 
without any salt. They were all 
summer without tents, with but 
little bedding and few clothes (I 
copy from his letters). He men- 
tions some sport in killing the 
buffaloes, which they encountered 
more than a thousand in a herd. 
They had a large variety of game, 
which would have been a great 
luxury with the accompaniment 
of salt, butter, or vegetables. He 
returned to Fort Leavenworth for 
the winter of 1857 and 1858. 

In the summer of 1858 he was 
ordered to Utah, and, as nearly as 

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General Sloljn £e&gtoich 



I can learn from his letters, he 
spent the time marching and 
counter-marching between Fort 
Riley and Fort Laramie, accom- 
plishing about as much as the King 
of France when 

" With twice ten thousand men 
He marched up the hill 
And then marched down again." 

The winter of 1859 and 1860 
seems to have been divided be- 
tween the two forts — Eiley and 
Laramie. 

Early in the summer of 1860 
he had command of an expedition 
against the Kiowa Indians, which 
involved much marching and dis- 
comfort, without achieving any 
material results. He mentions one 

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2d biographical £fcctct) 



slight engagement with the Kio- 
was, killing two, taking sixteen 
prisoners, with forty horses, and 
destroying their plunder. After 
marching hundreds of miles on 
their way back, they were ordered 
to retrace their steps and establish 
a military post, to be called Fort 
Wise, in the neighborhood of Pike's 
Peak. There they had to build 
their quarters for the winter. He 
writes, " Such buildings are never 
seen in the East. No boards, 
shingles, or floorings or windows 
are to be used. Thick stone walls 
laid up in mud, eighteen feet wide 
and more than a mile long, with 
dirt roofs, are to be our habitation 
this winter. The doors will be 
beef hides, straightened on frames, 

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<*Benerai %o§n J>ct»gtoicfc 



windows the same, to be taken out 
for light when the weather will 
permit." He actually spent a large 
part of the winter in tents. Un- 
der date of November 17, 1860, 
he writes, " The last mail brought 
a complimentary letter from the 
Secretary of War extolling our en- 
ergy and perseverance. I had 
previously written to Washington 
that if Providence had not fa- 
vored us more than the Depart- 
ment, there would have been in- 
tense suffering here this winter." 
During that campaign he often 
expressed disgust for the service, 
and a determination to resign his 
commission the following spring 
and spend the remainder of his 
days at his old home in Cornwall. 

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% S&ograpjica* &Mt§ 



But he was so far away that he 
did not know of the excitements 
and mutterings which were agitat- 
ing the political world at the East 
— the forerunner of that dreadful 
conflict which was so soon to hurst 
over the country, and which cost 
him his life. The firing on Fort 
Sumter in the spring reverberated 
even to that distance, and as a 
man of honor he felt that, edu- 
cated at his country's expense, he 
could not desert her in her hour 
of need. He was soon ordered to 
the East to take his part in the 
suppression of the rebellion, and 
like an old war-horse he straight- 
ened himself for the conflict, with 
what results the different engage- 
ments in which he took a com- 

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General 5Mn £c&gtoich 



manding part will bear witness. 
The tale is told in the battles of 
the Peninsula and Antietam, where 
he received dangerous wounds and 
had two horses shot under him, 
at Fredericksburg, by the phe- 
nomenal march to Gettysburg, and 
in his last campaign under Gen- 
eral Grant, in the battle of the 
Wilderness, when he rallied his dis- 
heartened men by the touching ap- 
peal, " Follow Uncle John, boys," 
until the fatal ninth of May, 1864, 
when he made his crowning sac- 
rifice for his beloved country. 

" Duty, stern daughter of the 
voice of God," was always his 
watchword. When he heard her 
voice he was ready to follow. 
What he was ordered to do, he 

18 



3d biographical gfoctfy 



did cheerfully, with the unflinch- 
ing and unquestioning ohedience of 
a good soldier. And he always 
exacted a like obedience from his 
men, which resulted in the perfect 
discipline and success of the fa- 
mous old Sixth Corps. During his 
long term of service he had but 
three furloughs. He combined 
great tenderness with great sever- 
ity of character. He would be 
moved to tears by a tale of suffer- 
ing, especially of those he loved. 
But no quarter would be given to 
any soldier who was guilty of a 
mean or dishonorable action, or 
who dared to disobey his orders. 
I cannot refrain from giving 
some more of the private incidents 
of his life, as they illustrate some of 

19 



General 5Mn £c&gtoick 



the noble traits of his character. 
In the year 1852, his father hav- 
ing become somewhat financially 
embarrassed, and also blind, he 
generously consented to take the 
old homestead upon his hands, and 
from that time his heart always 
seemed to be there. It was sanc- 
tified to him as the place of his 
birth, and by the toils of his father 
and his grandfather. No hills or 
mountains seemed to him so beau- 
tiful as those which encircled his 
own farm, and he was always antic- 
ipating the time when he would 
be able to resign his commission 
and return to spend the evening 
of his days in the home he loved 
so well. He always expressed 
the desire to be buried among his 
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5t biographical £&etcf> 



own people. Thank God, that wish 
was granted him ! 

Upon taking the homestead, he 
made every effort in his power to 
improve it. In the summer of 
1858 he made extensive improve- 
ments of the house. In the winter 
of 1859, on the 22d of February, 
it was burned, and with it the ac- 
cumulations of years : everything 
he had sent home from Mexico, a 
valuable library, and family relics 
which no money could replace. 
My mother and I were occupying 
it at the time, and I can never 
forget with what anxiety, amount- 
ing almost to anguish, I looked 
forward to the first news from 
him. It almost seemed as if he 
might blame me for such a catas- 
21 



General 5Mn ^cbgtamfc 



trophe, and I was so sordid as 
to regret the money which had 
just heen expended on the place. 
But my plummet had not sounded 
the depths of his noble nature. He 
at once reassured me, and said, 
" I am glad that we had done 
so much for the dear old home," 
as if it were a sentient being 
grateful for every dollar that had 
been expended upon it. He at 
once applied for a leave of ab- 
sence, but as he was expected to 
take command of another expedi- 
tion the following summer, he could 
get only thirty days. He declined 
to accept it, as it would leave him 
so little time at home. But upon 
application to the Secretary of 
War, explaining the circumstances, 

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3U 25iogtapljical £ftctcf) 

he got leave for six months. He 
reached Cornwall Hollow early in 
May, and the following day com- 
menced preparations to rehuild, 
which resulted in the present house 
upon the same site, and of the 
same size, as the home which was 
burned in 1775. He returned to 
Fort Riley late in the autumn of 
1859. When he departed, his house 
was enclosed and partly plastered, 
and it was left in my hands to 
finish. He never saw it until after 
the battle of Antietam, when, 
being badly wounded, he came 
home to recuperate. After he had 
looked the place all over, inspect- 
ing the stables which had been re- 
built, the grounds which had been 
graded, and the garden blooming 
23 



(Dcncral 5ofjn ^cfcgtoicfe 



with flowers as if to welcome 
their chief home, I said to him, 
" Does it please you, John '? " He 
replied, with tears in his eyes, " I 
should he very ungrateful to you 
if I w^ere not pleased, hut I would 
gladly give it all up for the dear 
old home." And that was John 
Sedgwick, unswerving devotion to 
the things he once loved. He 
stayed with me for nearly three 
months, and it always has heen 
a comfort to me, in the pleasant 
and stormy days I have passed 
through since, that as he took me 
in his arms for his final embrace, 
he said that the days he had spent 
with me then had been the hap- 
piest of his life. 



24 



